Jackie Brown

Movie Name: Jackie Brown

Year of Release: 1997

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Stars: Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton, Robert De Niro, Michael Bowen, Chris Tucker, LisaGay Hamilton, Hattie Winston, Sid Haig, Aimee Graham

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 9

Synopsis:

Following the watershed moment that was "Pulp Fiction", Quentin Tarantino found himself dispersed in several different projects, such as "Four Rooms" and "From Dusk till Dawn", all met with different levels of critical (and commercial) success. His first big film after "Pulp Fiction" was the fantastic "Jackie Brown", an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's "Rum Punch". The film focuses on a plethora of characters, but the main thread is Jackie Brown, a middle aged street smart stewardess, who smuggles money from Mexico to LA for arms dealer Ordell Robbie. When she gets caught, she gets offered a deal to help the police catch Ordell, in exchange for her freedom. Ordell plans to eliminate her, but unbeknownst to him, Jackie has already devised a plan to get herself off the situation, with enough money to start her life elsewhere.
Quentin Tarantino is an extremely intelligent film maker, one who references a multitude of influences, but who always manages to reshuffle these and come up with something that is unique, and most of the times indelible. "Jackie Brown" is one of his best features, combining his love for dialogue that is ripe with pop culture references and analysis (and of course, his taste for B films), and also a crackling plot that is smartly devised to keep everyone guessing how the game is going to be played out. The joy in his films is not only the end destination, but the path that he creates in making his characters (and audiences) getting there. This smartly assembled cocktail features, as usual, a phenomenal cast, with Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton and Robert De Niro, all shining in the roles they inhabit. The cinematography from Guillermo Navarro is fantastic (he traditionally works with Guillermo Del Toro) and the score is eclectic as usual, this time around featuring plenty of hits from the 70s. A superb film!